Characters of
The Passion: Saint Peter

By Cardinal Justin Rigali

Many of you enjoy some time at the Shore during the summer. Isn’t it interesting to note that, while the ocean and the sand and the boardwalk remain basically the same, your experiences are always different? We can all envision little children in a state of wonder on the beach, young people “meeting up” on the boardwalk, families gathered together in a pleasant, intimate setting and, perhaps most touching of all, older couples still holding hands as they enter the water or “walk the boards!” The elements remain basically the same but the experiences differ with time and circumstance.

I have been addressing the topics of the Characters of Lent and the Passion in these last few weeks. We can say the same about these characters as we did concerning the above experiences: the characters we encounter are always the same but there is a never-ending source of inspiration in them. The possibilities of learning from them are, like the sand and sea, unlimited. This is because they partake of the divine plan, which we will never fathom completely but from which we can always learn. “For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed his message in many colors …. Within it he has buried manifold treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out” (Saint Ephrem).

This universal appeal but individual experience is found in a particular way in this week’s character: Saint Peter. We should all love him and learn from him in a special way, because in him the Lord has given us someone so like ourselves! Next month, we will talk about Peter as the head of the Church but this week we want to learn from his example and make him our special companion.

Jesus “looks on” Peter
When our Lord first calls Peter, the Scriptures tell us that Jesus “looked at him” (John 1:42). It is interesting to note that the same word, really meaning “to look through,” will also be used when Jesus “looks at” Peter after his betrayal (Luke 22:61). There is no doubt that Peter occupies a special place in the Gospels. Jesus “looked through” him because of the intimate relationship to which He was calling him. Later, Jesus “looked through him” because his betrayal hurt Jesus in a special way. As we draw closer to the celebration of the events of our Redemption, it is important to note that this Redemption, this love of Jesus for us, is a personal love. We know that as He looked out from the Cross, in His divine nature the Lord was able to see each and every one of us down through the ages. He “looked through” you and me with great personal love for us. He did the same at our Baptism, when we were incorporated into the life of the Blessed Trinity through His passion and death. Each and every time we are presented with a choice in life between sin and virtue, He looks at us with love but does not intrude on the dignity of the freedom He has given us. When we fall, His look is one of disappointment and sorrow. However, it is precisely to fill us with hope and encouragement that He places Saint Peter before us! “No wonder Our Divine Lord, Who knows all souls in their inner being, chose as head of His Church not John who had never denied Him, and who alone of all the apostles was present on the hill of Calvary, but rather chose Peter who fell and then rose again, who sinned and who then was forgiven amidst lifelong penance, in order that His Church might understand something of human weakness and sin, and bear to the millions of its souls the gospel of hope, the assurance of divine mercy” (Peter: A Lesson on Falling and Rising, Fulton J. Sheen).

Andrew brought Peter to Jesus
The Gospel of Saint John (1:40-42) tells us that Andrew brought his brother Peter, to Jesus. What a life-changing event this was to be for Peter! As Lent progresses and we dwell in a special way on our life in Christ, I wonder if we might also think about who “brought us to Jesus?” As with Peter, with almost all of us there was a human element involved in bringing us to Jesus. We may think of our parents who brought us to be baptized and provided that first profession of faith for us. Perhaps, along with them, there were certain family members, teachers, religious Sisters and priests who strengthened that faith and opened its wonders up to us. It may have been a book, or a special event or a particular Liturgy that awakened in us that special gaze of Christ. To those of you who came to faith in Christ and His Church later in life, you will appreciate in particular who and what “brought you to Jesus.” Saint Paul’s second letter to Timothy comes to mind in relation to this thought. In encouraging those Christians to whom he is writing, who like us were living in a difficult and sinful world, he says: “But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you have learned it” (2 Timothy 3:14). As we think of Jesus’ gaze on Peter and on us, it would be praiseworthy this week to think of, give thanks for, and pray for all those who led us to that gaze, which changes everything for us.

Saint Peter and “hypocrisy
I have mentioned several times throughout this series that we study these characters of the Gospels because they are eternal and we are able to adjust the lessons they teach us to our lives in this present time of history in which we are called to work out our salvation. This is why Saint Augustine referred to the truths of our faith as being “ever ancient and ever new.”

I would now like to use the example of Saint Peter to clarify what is sometimes a misconception in our age: it is the use of the word hypocrite or hypocritical. The definition of hypocrite in Webster's Dictionary is: “A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.” In other words, we are speaking about people who say they believe something but do not have an internal conviction of it, nor do they try to make their actions agree with what they say they believe.

The reason that we are concerned with a misunderstanding of this word is that it can lead to discouragement, it can keep someone away from Confession and even be misused as an excuse for leading a less than virtuous life. Let me give you an example: A husband and father teaches his children to be honest and to lead a good life. He even corrects them strongly when they misbehave. This man, internally and externally, genuinely tries to lead a virtuous life. One day, while he and his wife are experiencing financial difficulties, he sees an opportunity to make some extra money dishonestly. He takes advantage of the opportunity, he gets caught and his wife and children find out about it. Is he a hypocrite? No! He is a sinner but he is not necessarily a hypocrite. He truly believed what he taught his children and he genuinely tried to practice what he taught but through human weakness he fell on this particular occasion. This makes him a sinner, not a hypocrite.

Our Lord was very harsh with hypocrites. In the Gospel of Saint Matthew he says: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence … you are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing” (Matthew 23: 25, 27, 28).

The figure of Saint Peter is the great antidote to this confusion between hypocrisy and falling through sin. Peter denied our Lord, not once but three times (cf. Matthew 26:69-75, Luke 22:54:62, Mark 14:66-72). We find these denials recorded in three Gospel accounts, telling us that the Gospel writers, under divine inspiration, had no desire to hide this fact. However, we all know what happened next: Jesus “looked through” Peter and Peter went out and wept bitterly! We do not have a hypocrite here; we have a sinner who is repenting. Maybe someone who is reading this now is staying away from Confession or thinks there is no hope for him or her because of having committed a serious sin. Some in society who do not believe in sin or in the struggle to be virtuous have caused the word hypocrite to be misused and you think you are one when you are not. If you believe in Jesus and His message, if you have tried to follow Him in the way you live and if you have fallen, you have sinned but you are not a hypocrite. You are in good company because, like Peter, you fell. Jesus now turns His gaze to you again and He looks at you with love and fills your heart with sorrow. He now wants you to act on that sorrow as Peter did.

Peter relates to us because he is so like us! He asked Jesus the most questions, showing his zeal. He promised to stay with Jesus even if all the others betrayed Him, showing his good intentions. His faith was so firm that Jesus made him the rock on which He built the Church. However, in his human weakness he sinned gravely by denying his Master and Friend. Remember that, as in the case of Peter, God never turns away from a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:19). A broken and contrite heart is not the heart of a hypocrite.

March 22, 2007